South Africa's rich mineral wealth continues to make mining a dominant economic activity. While diamond and gold production may be well down from their peak production years, the country remains a cornucopia of mineral resources.

Against this backdrop the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation will launch the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Integrated Minerals and Energy Resource Analysis (CIMERA) at the University of Johannesburg.

The research focus of CIMERA is especially relevant to South Africa because it will assimilate an integrated understanding of the nature of some of the major and minor mineral and fossil energy resources of South Africa and their geometallurgical characteristics. This will ensure sustainable extraction of resources, while preventing and solving negative environmental impacts. The emphasis is on integrating cutting-edge academic research with strategic applications in wealth generation and human resource development – not only in South Africa, but also the rest of Africa.
The Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Michael Masutha, will open the new CoE tomorrow, Thursday, 24 April 2014.

The details for the event are as follows:

Date:              Thursday 24 April 2014
Venue:           Council Chambers
                        2nd floor, Madibeng Building
            Auckland Park Kingsway Campus
            University of Johannesburg
Time:              12:00 – 14:30

Issued by the Department of Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation
For more information, please contact:
Veronica Mohapeloa at veronica.mohapeloa@dst.gov.zaor 082 882 3818

or

Palesa Mokoena at palesa.mokoena@nrf.ac.za or 083 494 2322

or

Tumi Tladi at tumelot@uj.ac.za or 076 659 5763